


my brother's wings

by undernightlight



Category: Midsomer Murders - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Brothers, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28418670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undernightlight/pseuds/undernightlight
Summary: Four ancient beings, archangels of the lord, to gain another brother. A young one with eyes sparkling blue and shining wings of white. He would be their final brother, for their Father had plans of something new. They aid this plan while they aid each other, their young one raised by brother’s loving hands.
Relationships: Ben Jones & Charlie Nelson, Dan Scott & Jamie Winter, Gavin Troy & Dan Scott
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	my brother's wings

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to neptunium134 and midsomer4life on tumblr for getting this idea stuck in my head - this is your fault
> 
> there has a focus on the relationship between Dan and Jamie, but other relationships and dynamics are at play throughout; they're all brothers and interact within that
> 
> also, this is not biblically accurate, obviously, but details will be changed or will be different because i just don't know - combination most likely - and it's all in good faith

The young angel looked up at the four faces above him, each one different and distinct, and his arms reached out to one. The face he reached for contorted, scanned across while all eyes turned to him.

“Me?” He said, voice heavy with concern.

“It appears he wants you, and I rather feel you don’t have a choice,” one replied.

The face the young angel boy chose was more than a face. The face had a body and arms and hands, hands that reached out and picked him from the ground. He was content in these hands, and he was brought to the chest of the being now holding him, and his hands clung to the fabric draping the body.

“He likes you,” another face said and a foreign hand ran through his hair. “You should introduce us all.”

“Me?” repeated the first voice.

“Yes, you. He’ll respond to you.”

“Our true names?”

“Oh no, not them. We don’t use them, and he won’t know his yet. Our chosen names.”

The figure that held him lifted him to eye level, and the young angel boy reached out a little hand to the face before him. His palm came flat against a nose, straight and strong.

“My name is Daniel,” the first voice said. He was turned in Daniel’s hands. “Gavin, Benjamin and Charlie.” With each new name, a new face was pointed to him, and now each face gained identity. “What should we call him?” Daniel said, now talking to the new identities.

“Did Father say anything?” asked Benjamin. Gavin shook his head. “Then it falls to us.”

The young angel boy wondered what his identity would be, what it would mean to be called. He was so young, he knew that somehow, and that the figures before him were his brothers, and they were old. He knew instinctively these things, but he did not know how, or of this Father they spoke of.

“Charlie?” Benjamin asked, and Charlie’s attention was gained. “I think it should fall to you. You are the only one of us to not name a brother.”

And so Charlie looked at him, and hand gently running though his hair. “His eyes are quite stunning,” he said. The young angel wondered what he looked like, if he looked anything like his brothers.

Daniel, who’s arms he was still held in, had short, dark hair, and a flat nose and eyes that held something he could not yet recognise, but made him feel safe. What he knew to be wings stuck out from Dan’s back, as they did from all of theirs, but Dan’s were distinctly different in more than just colour. They were dark, feathers fading grey to black, but they were shorter, clipped, and one crooked, the joint not folding in neat like the other.

Gavin he knew instinctively was the oldest, for the eyes were tired like the others weren’t. His hair was loose in curls framing a face deceptively young. His wings were the largest, three quarters folded but the span as wide as Daniel’s. They were a warm mix of browns, much like his hair, with seemingly no pattern.

Benjamin’s face was deceptively older than he was. He was not as old as Gavin or Daniel, but he’d seen just as much if not more. His wings were also large, though not as large as Gavin’s, but fuller of feathers, brown with black speckles. His hair looked soft, much like his wings, strands falling down into his face, and he, the young angel boy, wondered what it would feel like through his fingers as ones continued through his hair.

Charlie’s hand never stopped it’s gentle motions, and he could tell that Charlie was gentle in all his existence. Hair grew on his face unlike the others, all hair light in colour. His smile was half crooked, but warm and kind, and his nose strong and narrow. Golden wings came from his back, feather barbs splayed out the most, ruffled.

“James,” Charlie said after some time of silence. “How about James?”

“I like it,” Gavin said. They all nodded.

Daniel said, holding him back against his chest. “Young James, you will have much to learn.”

He sat watching young James, sitting on the floor playing with a toy he created for him. Daniel wasn’t sure what to call the toy, but he was sure James would come up with something, he was a creative child like that.

A presence settled beside him. Without turning, he knew who it was; a warmth settled through his wings. “You’re going to be good for him,” Charlie said. “He’s already attached.”

“He’s attached to all of us, to whoever pays him attention. It just so happens often it’s me because Father doesn’t trust me to do what He needs done.” The bitterness in his tone was heavy, and he felt the weight settled between them. He didn’t want that for Charlie. “I think you’ll be better for him.” Dan turned to find Charlie’s eyes already on him. “You’re young and warm and kind, things I am not. He needs a presence like you, to keep him on the right path.”

“And what path is that brother?”

“Not the path I went down.”

“That was long ago.”

“Yet I still stuffer for it. I know the pain, and it is not something I would wish upon young James, or any of you to make that clear.”

“We all make mistakes.”

“We are not supposed to.”

A world was being made, that was Father’s new plan, and Benjamin looked forward to it. He spoke with Father about it, him and Gavin and Charlie, and Father spoke of new life on a sphere of water and land, spinning around a ball of gas and fire, and it would inhabit all sorts of life of different sizes and colours and smells and textures. It was all immensely complicated, but they all tried to follow it along. Father asked for their help.

He had relayed on the information to Daniel, who stayed with James, deemed too young for the conversation. Daniel was uninterested. “He didn’t invite me,” he said. “He doesn’t care if I know of His plan or not, nor if I help.”

“He does care for you.” Daniel stared at him, and Benjamin shifted under his gaze. “Regardless of Father, I’d like your help. There were a lot of things I didn’t understand, and you’re far more creative than me.”

“I have James to look after.”

“We all have James to look after. There are four of us, you can spare some time.”

James wriggled in Daniel’s hold. His arms wrapped around the young one’s body, hand against opposite sides, engulfing him, keeping him steady on Daniel’s folded lap. The wriggling continued, so Daniel let him go, running a hand through the young one’s hair as we went; a habit, Benjamin noticed, reserved only for James.

“Promise me you’ll help,” Benjamin said. “It doesn’t have to be much, but I want you there, we all do.”

“He doesn’t.”

“Father doesn’t have a say in this matter. We want your help, your valued opinion. Please brother, promise me this.”

Daniel stared at him again. He was a difficult one to read. With a clunk, they both turned to James sitting on the floor with a toy Benjamin did not recognise. Then Daniel turned back to him. “I will help,” he said, tired.

Daniel was so much older than him. Between Gavin and Daniel, there were just a few hundred years, but then five thousand between Daniel and himself. He often wondered why such a gap, but he had never asked Father; whenever Father wanted to speak with them, it was always for a reason, and Benjamin found he just never managed it before dismissal.

“Thank you,” he said. It earned him a smile from Daniel, something small but still present. Daniel was a kind brother, Benjamin knew that, he just sometimes had to be reminded just how kind; he would involve himself in Father’s plan if it made him, Benjamin, happy, despite having no interest or desire to be involved for himself.

Benjamin laid a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, and then stood to leave, his intentions to find Charlie.

He sat on the floor, legs crossed, with James directly in front of him. They stared at each other, not saying a word. James was a quiet boy, most noises from him not words but sounds like laughter and humming and small grunts when he didn’t get what he wanted. Daniel didn’t mind, he was quiet himself compared to Gavin and Benjamin, but it did worry him at times, how little James spoke.

“What are you thinking little brother?” He finally asked.

James scooted himself closer, his hands pulling and wrapping around Daniel’s, before he said. “Your wings, why are they so different to ours?” For one who barely spoke, he was always so articulate.

Daniel knew it would come up eventually, he just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. It had been some time for him, shortly after Benjamin’s coming, but he didn’t speak of it. Benjamin found out through Gavin, and Charlie from them; no one ever asked him until now. He considered deferring James to another, but when it came to the young boy, Daniel struggled to deprive him of anything.

“I spoke out against our Father and He punished me.”

“What did He do?”

“He took my wings and clipped them short. He broke one so I could never fall out of His reach. He bound me to Heaven so I can never leave.”

“What did you do?”

“I asked questions I wasn’t supposed to.” James grew quiet in more than voice, his body shifting, hands tightening. “It was long ago, it’s okay. I’m okay now.” He brought James into his lap, small legs resting over his, and held him against his chest. “You need not worry little one.” He felt the small white wings of his brother shift and flutter, gently wrapping around his body, their wings touching.

“Does it still hurt?” came the small broken voice.

Daniel found himself able to lie with ease. “No, not at all.” His arms wrapped tighter around the young boy, and the young boy’s wings wrapped tighter around him. “Not at all Jamie.”

James brought change to them all. Most obviously to some perhaps, were names. Daniel had been known by nothing other than that for all his existence, and yet James called him Dan, and Benjamin Ben. He adapted, started calling the young one Jamie, and he seemed to like that. He responded differently to James or Jamie, different attentions and auras, and it would shape their interactions depending on which was used. Dan had started calling him only Jamie, for that felt most right.

For Dan, little Jamie had brought out his caring side. He had cared for Benjamin and Charlie, but Benjamin had grown rather fast and had gravitated towards Gavin more than him. Charlie had clung to Ben more than anyone else, not that he could blame the young Charlie; they were both the brightest of them, the ones that shone in Father’s light the most. Dan had no intention of being the one to care for Jamie, Charlie being the most nurturing, Ben and Gavin with the experience, and yet, he was Jamie’s primary carer.

Jamie was a beautiful young boy, and Dan worried he would affect that. He was not like Jamie, not like any of his brothers. His faith had never been restored, he’d just learnt to keep his blasphemy silent, and though it may be silent, he believed it could be contagious.

Jamie asked questions he shouldn’t, ones that reminded Dan of those ancient questions he’d asked Father, the questions that had him punished. He told Jamie so, to keep himself quiet if he ever found himself in Father’s presence. He hadn’t yet, but it was always a possibility.

When Jamie asked him these questions, he answered but only if he promised to never repeat what he heard. It was their best option, not wanting to hear the questions again and not wanting them repeated to their brothers. He made Jamie promise to never speak a word. And he tried to keep himself light in Jamie’s presence, to smile more, to be faithful, to be more like his other brothers. It was a struggle, but he would continue to try if it kept Jamie from ending up like him.

“What is it?” Charlie asked, watching Ben’s hands manipulate the substance from over his shoulders.

“Water,” came the reply. Ben conjured a ball of the thing into his hands, contained in its own little sphere. “Touch it.”

And so Charlie did. It coated his fingers, cold against his skin, and it didn’t fully leave him when he attempted to shake his hand free of it. “What does it do?”

“It will help keep life alive. It will be consumed by everything to sustain their existence, and if they don’t, they perish.” Ben manipulated the ball of water, letting it float in its globular shape between his hands. “It will fall from above, and the creatures will utilise it for whatever purpose they wish, but always to prolong themselves.”

“It sounds rather complicated. Why all this?”

“They must have a purpose. And if their purpose is to survive, then they must work for it, that’s what Father said.”

Charlie furrowed. “Why can’t we just give it to them? If they need it to survive, then why must they fight for it? Surely we can make enough for all things that there does not need to be a struggle for it.”

Ben shrugged, letting the water ball join the pool at his feet. “That’s what Father said. I don’t question Him - He must have a reason, He always does.” Charlie nodded beside him. “I think it’s quite beautiful, in a simplistic way.” Charlie nodded again. “Did Father ask anything specific of you?”

Charlie shook his head. “No, but He mentioned plants, these creatures that aren’t creatures, that just cover the land. I thought I’d work on some of those. He said there would need to be a lot. I’ll ask Daniel to help me.” From the void, he pulled out what he considered a plant, a first draft.

“What is it?” Ben asked.

“I’ve called it a sunflower. I was with Gavin, watching him design the stars and the sun, and looking at it - when Father described a ball of fire, it sounded quite terrifying, but when I saw it, I found myself smiling. I made these, and they’ll always follow the sun.” He tucked it neatly between two feathers; he rather liked the look of that. “You should take a break, you’ve been working for hours. We should give Daniel a break from little Jamie for a while.”

He had been working on the stars for quite some time when he finally decided to take a break. They were quite beautiful, he thought, and he wondered what Father’s creatures would think of them. His break was well deserved he thought, and with work a lonely business, he sought out the company of his brothers.

He found only one, Dan, sat alone, distant and daydreaming. Gavin sat himself beside down next to him. “Where’s Jamie? He asked.

“Ben and Charlie took him for a while. They wanted to show him their work.”

“You didn’t go with them?”

Dan shook his head. His brother’s distance was sad, Gavin could see it in his eyes and his wings. Dan had always been the more melancholic brother, more thoughtful for better or for worse, the one of them to think things through, to look before leaping. It had served them all well at times, but Gavin could see the strain it put on Daniel; it wasn’t something he could turn off, even if he tried.

Unfortunately, Gavin did not know what was weighing on his brother. “Talk to me Daniel.”

And Daniel turned to him, and Gavin saw more than sadness; he saw fear. Gavin could think to do nothing else but hug him, pull him tightly into his arms and hold him. Dan melted against him; he was more in touch with his emotions than any of them, but he struggled for an outlet for a very long time.

“Oh little brother,” he couldn’t help but say, hand in his hair, calming him.

“It shouldn’t be me,” Dan muttered in Gavin’s hold. “It shouldn’t be me. You or Ben or Charlie, just not me.”

“You’re talking about Jamie.”

“Why me?” Dan pulled himself back, and Gavin saw slight tears in his eyes. “He is young and sweet and he shines so bright - I can’t be the only one that sees that. He deserves someone else to care for him, not me. How am I supposed to raise a boy like that?”

“You helped raise Benjamin and Charlie, and they’re brighter than either of us.”

“You did that. You gifted your grace to them, not me.”

Gavin held his brother’s face in his hands and drew their foreheads together. “You are a wonder to that boy. If we did not think you suited, we would have taken Jamie away, but we all trust you. Now you need to trust yourself.” Daniel tried to shake himself free, but Gavin just pulled him back, letting them both topple, Dan cushioned by Gavin’s body.

There wasn’t much between them in age, but he was Daniel’s only elder, and that was a responsibility he took seriously; there were times he still saw Daniel as a young boy with scruffy hair and scruffy wings, bare feet against Heaven’s ground, running and smiling and carefree. That was all so long ago now, but as Dan curled himself against Gavin’s body like they had millenia ago, he was reminded of those times long since passed.

“I wish things were easier,” Daniel said, his voice unusually small.

“I know, so do I.”

“When Father finishes this new world, do you think things will change?”

“Maybe, I hope so.”

“So do I.”

They stayed in peace for some time. Daniel’s breathing evened out, and eventually he fell asleep, forehead pressed against Gavin’s ribs, head cushioned against his wings, and he kept his arm securely around his younger brother.

They were both so old now, ancient really, and they were both tired, but it was easy to be tired when you were in your Father’s good graces. Gavin still remembered that, when Daniel asked too many questions he wasn’t supposed to, and he stood and watched as Daniel screamed in pain as feathers were ripped from his wings, as his bones were broken and his grace stripped of him.

The guilt had not left him, not even after all this time. He wished he had intervened, had stepped forward and defended his brother, but he hadn’t, he had been too scared. He’d never seen their Father act such a way, and it terrified him; it reminded Gavin of the power their Father held.

He was at least able to help with the healing, sparing some of his own grace temporarily, until Daniel’s returned to him. It hadn’t quite been enough. The wings never properly healed, the feathers not growing back. A painful reminder.

“It was never your fault little brother,” Gavin whispers, Dan asleep and unhearing. “I should tell you so when you wake up, but I fear you’ll run away or think me a liar, but it was never your fault.” Thinking of Jamie, “And you are perfect for our baby brother. I see the way he looks at you, he chose you so I don’t really think you have a choice, but I’m here if you need me. Always little brother.”

“Is he alright?” Charlie asked, and Gavin nodded. “You’re sure?”

“He’s managing. Sometimes that’s all we can ask of him.”

“Why did Father have to be so mean? Surely, whatever Dan said couldn’t have been that bad, right?”

“Daniel did nothing wrong but ask questions. It’s in his nature. I don’t think Father intended that for him, for any of us, to question Him or His intentions.”

“What was it he said exactly? Do you even remember, it was so long ago.”

Gavin shook his head. He didn’t remember the words, no exacts, just the sentiment behind it; defiance. Not active, aggressive defiance, but the type that came with not understanding. Dan was not one to follow blindly, and he had paid for that.

“I hope he’s not under too much stress. I know we all help with Jamie, but the young one has attached himself to Dan. And Ben has asked him to help build this word, to involve him with Father again, slowly. I want it to be good for him.”

“So do I.”

“Do you worry about him a lot? I do, but mostly since Jamie came, that’s when things really changed."

Gavin sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He was always worried about Dan, it was something he couldn’t help it seemed, but Charlie was right that the worry had only increased with James’ appearance. The little one was good for Daniel, he could see that, but he’d seen the other side too, the side of Daniel that struggled to accept that someone would choose him over anyone else.

He sculpted with clay consistently until Jamie stuck his hand in, a print in what what the face of a creature he was designing. Dan sighed. Gavin’s sniggering did not escape him. “Jamie, please, I need to do this.”

“But I want to help,” the young angel whined. Breaking off a chunk, he handed the clay to Jamie to keep the boy occupied. Dan just ended up distracted, watching Jamie shape the clay into odd shapes and mismatching features. His creature - what he wished to name a whale - was long forgotten as Jamie made a rectangular body and short flipper legs, a flat, square tail and a beak. He was a creative angel, but he did not follow the guidelines.

He heard sniggering again, and he turned to Gavin, who was watching them both but let his eyes sit predominantly on him. Gavin fought the smile on his face and Dan’s expression grew colder, but then Gavin shrugged and continued his sculpting; Jamie distracted all of them, it wasn’t fair for him to be victimised for it.

Daniel continued on his whale, smoothing the back, pinching on the flippers to form little waves, shaping the small fin at the back. He made plans to make lots of different types of whales if he was permitted. There were rules and guidelines for them to follow, but Dan supposed, since he wasn’t supposed to be involved to begin with, that following them was optional. Still, he would prefer to not fall further on Father’s bad side.

“Dan!” came a screaming little voice some time later. Jamie was standing in line with clay creations. “Come look what I made.” Leaving his work, Daniel went to see what his little brother had made.

It was an odd collection of unusually shaped sculptures, not quite smooth or finished by his brother’s small, unskilled hands - easily identifiable as his work - but Daniel found something charming in the work. Jamie beamed, his excitement tangible, and it made Dan’s feathers static.

“This one is a platypus,” Jamie said, picking up the clay creation from the ground. “And it likes to live in water and it lays eggs like the birds Ben made. And it's got a tail like you beavers.” He handed the platypus to Daniel, who took it into his arms. He stared at it. It was a rather odd combination of features, but he found it oddly charming.

“And this one,” Jamie continued, scooping up something much, much smaller into the palm of his hand. “I haven’t quite got a name for it yet, but it also liked the water. It’s got little feet and a fishy tail, and these little frillies are just because I think they look fun.”

“They look very fun,” Daniel said, crouching to get a better look. It had a smiling face and little black eyes. “Well, you have to name it since you made it. It’s a fun, happy looking creature, so why not a fun, happy name?”

The young one furrowed his brows, seemingly deep in thought for something ultimately so small. Gavin had wandered his way over during Jamie’s explanation, and Dan passed the platypus over for his brother to examine.

“Axolotl!” shouted Jamie suddenly, startling Gavin into nearly dropping the clay creature. “I want to call it an axolotl.”

Daniel beam, smile uncontainable. “Then axolotl it is.”

Jamie rattled on about his other creatures, and Dan settled on the floor. Gavin joined him almost instantly, still cradling the platypus. There were birds with extremely large beaks and deer creatures with tiny little legs, and a round creature with four legs and short round ears that Jamie very much wanted to be fluffy but couldn’t quite manage it with the clay. It was hopelessly endearing.

“So, which one should be brought to life first?”

Both Gavin’s and Jamie’s eyes flashed to him. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Gavin whispered, Jamie deep in thought.

“Of course I am.”

“And where am I supposed to put this?” He held up the platypus.

“I’m sure you’ll find somewhere for it Gavin.”

Jamie looked up at them and pouted. They were so much taller than him. Why couldn’t he be like that? “I want to be tall,” he said, and their faces turned to him.

“Tall?” Ben asked.

“I want to be like you two.” Ben and Charlie exchanged glances. “When do I get to be tall like you two?”

“Well,” Charlie began, “whenever you want, really. You just have to make it happen.”

Jamie continued to pout. That didn’t seem right, that he could just do it. If he could change his form, it would make sense for his brothers to be able to do it too, and yet, he’d never seen them look any different than they had when he first laid his young eyes on them.

“How?” He demanded; they may only be teasing, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to risk the opportunity.

Both of them frowned - Jamie couldn’t help but observe that when in thought, Charlie drew his lips in and Ben pouted his outwards, it was rather funny.

“You just...do it,” Charlie said. Unsurprisingly, that did not help Jamie on his quest to achieve height.

“Do you want to just be tall, or to grow?” Ben asked

“There is a difference?”

Ben nodded. “Growing is different. It changes your face, your proportions, the way you hold yourself - it’s complicated.”

Jamie didn’t need to think before he knew his answer. “I want to grow.”

“Alright. We must take it slow however. Your body must adjust to itself with each change, and so the slower you take it, the better and less painful it’ll be.” Jamie nodded along to Ben. “I suppose you would like a reference?” Jamie nodded again. “Alright.”

Almost instantly, the Ben that was in front of Jamie changed, the familiar face replaced with one not quite a stranger, but not known to him either. Ben was shorter now, as were his wings, and his eyes, they were younger, brighter. His frame was narrower, arms less defined with muscle, fingers shorter and stumpier too. It was strange, but the more Jamie looked at him, the more it was clear that it was still his brother.

“Now you should try,” came Ben’s now higher pitched voice. “Keep your own visuals in mind, your hair, your eyes, your wings, but age yourself, make yourself taller and wider and stronger. Relax Jamie.”

And Jamie tried, letting his eyes fall closed and his breaths deepening. He knew what he looked like well enough to gather a mental image, and then he did was Ben said. He imagined himself older. His hair would be slightly longer, slightly curly he thought would be fun. His eyes would dull just as Ben’s had. He broadened his shoulders and bulked his arms, and grew his wings out wide.

He focused on all the details in silence, and when he was comfortable and happy, he asked, “And now what?”

“Now open your eyes,” and following Charlie’s command he did.

He was noticeably taller, for his eyes naturally hit Charlie’s chest and not his hips. It was hard to assess himself, to know exactly if everything had changed as he had intended, but as he ran a hand through his hair and felt its added length and change in texture, he assumed it had all worked.

Reaching a hand over his shoulder, he felt his wings as they half curled around him. They could nearly completely engulf him and felt firmer to the touch. He wondered though, with a nervousness he suddenly couldn’t shake:

“What will Dan think?”

Ben and Charlie exchanged looks - Ben back to his usual self thankfully - before turning back, only a quick glance between them. “Why don’t you find him and ask him?”

He had been quietly working on plant life - it gave him something to do - when Jamie appeared. He knew it was Jamie because he knew what his aura felt like, but upon turning his head, Dan was surprised to be met by an older face. Jamie was smiling, a little shy, wings drawn in; though the face smiling back was not completely known to him, there was no doubt that it was Jamie.

And so Dan’s surprise melted quickly. He packed his work away into the void to give his brother his full attention, still standing a distance away.

“You look nice,” he said.

“You think so?”

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I thought maybe you’d like me more as a little one.”

Daniel wore a soft smile. “You’ll always be my little one, that won’t change no matter how old you get.”

The smile on Dan’s face changed to mirror Jamie’s, which grew to something bright and beaming, his nervousness slipping away. Then Jamie ran to him, legs longer, carrying him quicker, and Dan braced himself and opened his arms as Jamie flung himself at him. Daniel wrapped arms and wings around him, swallowing him up, feet off the ground, spinning him. Jamie laughed, his beautiful laugh a little deeper but still so very much him in timbre; he may look older, but he had not aged in any significant way since Dan had last seen him not long ago.

Jamie will always be his little one. That would never change. 

"So, they're to look like us?" Charlie asked, looking at the model. 

Gavin nodded. "This is what Father gave me, so yes."

The dominant species on the planet were to be called human, and they were strikingly similar to them. The humans had faces like them, and hands and arms and legs and stomachs. Their main distinguishing feature, or lack thereof, was the absence of wings, leaving human's bound to the land. 

"I do not like it," Daniel said. Gavin thought the same, but he was not brave enough to say it aloud. 

"It's strange," Jamie said, poking the model's chest. "It even feels like us. What was the point of creating this entire world only to have creatures like us, but less that, to inhabit it all?" 

Dan was quick to drape an arm over Jamie's shoulders. "Let's not think about that. It'll just take time for us to get used to it, but I'm sure it'll be fine."

They all thought something similar to Jamie, along different lines but with the same sentiment. Dan's defiance had rubbed off, whether consciously or not, and Gavin highly doubted this was something deliberate on Daniel's part; Charlie was proof enough that the primary caregiver would rub off on the ward. It was worrisome though, for as much as Gavin loved Daniel, his ideology, his lack of faith in their Father, was not ideal for young Jamie. He doubted there was much he could do about it however, especially not now that the two were practically inseparable.

"We should get to work on these," Gavin said, not that he wanted to, but it had to be done. "Daniel, James, perhaps you could work on more plants and animals while we do this."

Jamie agreed with no protest but also no enthusiasm, while Dan led him away. Over his shoulder, he managed to mouth a "thank you," not that Gavin needed it, but he smiled and nodded, accepting it. 

It was a lot of work for three angels, but they would do it. They had no choice.

The Garden of Eden as it was named, was the first thing to be completely finished and ready for the humans. It was a beautiful piece of work, with wonderful plants and animals, all of them having a hand in the designs, not that their Father knew or appreciated any of their work, but Ben knew that wasn't why they did what they did. He saw it bothered Gavin and Jamie more than him however, that they wanted credit, approval from Father. Ben doubted that would ever come.

They were allowed in the garden, before the humans. It was easy to forget only four of them could go. Ben stared at Jamie who stared at Dan, who sat unmoving, eyes closed and breathing. He debated staying, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t do anybody any good to stay behind, and so he followed after Charlie and Gavin to Eden.

It was a beautiful place, and he couldn’t help be ever slightly jealous of the humans for living in such a paradise. They weren’t supposed to feel these things, angels and jealousy were not to mix, but that did not stop him. He found Gavin admiring the leaves of a tree, running it through his fingers attentively like there was more to it than just a leaf. Charlie was laying in the grass, back down and all six limbs splayed out and fanned, a beaming smile in his face as he watched the clouds.

There was a young wonder across Charlie’s face, and it reminded him that Charlie was quite a bit younger than him, quite a bit brighter. Ben worried that brightness was mixed too heavily with naivety, that Charlie didn’t know the wrath their Father could wield so He chose to. Ben was very young when Dan was disciplined, but he still vaguely remembered the recovery process, physically and mentally. Daniel was withdrawn for so long, quiet but aggressive, not that Ben blamed him of course, but it affected their relationship even now.

Ben thought, rather knew, that Gavin had been the saving grace of Daniel, figuratively and literally. Gavin had been exhausted for some time, his grace depleted, but he had been able to get through to Daniel all those years ago.

Watching Gavin, he held an older kind of wonder. He’d been alive so long, but finally, there was something new to see, to touch, to live for. Ben wondered what it must’ve been like, five thousand years, just him and Daniel, what it was like before Daniel. He knew Gavin knew Father best, and Ben couldn’t help but be jealous of that as well; Ben was devout, always did as he was told, had faith in his Father and his words, yet only had the joy of his Father’s presence every few hundred years. Ben wondered what it would have been like to be the only child, to have Father in his life as a constant.

Thinking that however, he would not change things. He loved his brothers.

Jamie couldn’t help but just stare at his brother, sitting quietly on the ground. He hesitated following the others, knowing Dan couldn’t come with them. He’d forgotten of course, because it never came up - up until now, where were they to go? But Daniel was locked in Heaven, to never leave and to never set foot on the planet. Jamie had been so excited until he remembered; he’d jumped, eyes wide, bouncing from arm to arm of his brothers. He clung to Dan’s arm beaming up at him, but then he stopped, saw Dan’s expression, and slowly he remembered. His expression slowly fell.

With small, quiet steps, Jamie joined his brother on the floor, sitting beside him but not speaking. He would wait. He didn’t wait long, as Daniel sighed and opened his eyes. Jamie felt judged somehow.

“I thought you were going with the others.”

“I changed my mind.”

Dan softened instantly, hearing his quiet voice. Jamie couldn’t look at him but he didn’t know why. “You should go,” Dan urged gently. “I saw how excited you were.” Jamie shrugged his shoulders as if it didn’t matter to him. “You shouldn’t miss out on this just because I can’t go. That wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“And it wouldn’t be fair to you to leave you alone. It’s not fair that you have to miss out on this because of mistakes you made thousands of years ago. It’s not fair brother.”

“I never said it was fair, but it is how it is, and there is nothing I can do to change it.”

Pouting, “Well, I’m not going without you. I don’t want to.” Jamie would not be convinced otherwise, and when he looked at Dan, he could see that he knew that too; his stubbornness was a trait of Dan’s he’d picked up, for better or for worse.

They sat there in silence for a while. Jamie rested his head against his brother’s shoulder for no reason other than he could, and Daniel allowed it, as he always did, resting his head atop of Jamie’s. Jamie always felt special, for no one else received this treatment from Daniel. He sometimes wondered what he did to deserve the treatment other than be the youngest, but perhaps it didn’t matter why, only that he was special in a way he didn’t understand.

“You might’ve seen them, but can I show you something I made?” Jamie asked, sitting up.

“Always little one.”

From the void, he plucked a plant - a fern he called it - and held its blade out in his hand. “Do you like it?”

Dan ran his fingertips along the leaves, brushing along them so light Jamie didn’t feel it through the stem. There was a delicacy to the movement, as Daniel seemed to take his time absorbing its appearance.

“It’s beautiful.” With a gentle touch, Dan stretched across and planted a kiss to Jamie’s temple.

“I know there are some in Eden, and I wanted to show you then but…”

“You are wonderfully talented my brother.”

Time passed, and they found themselves laying back, Jamie’s head on Daniel’s stomach, letting a hand run through his hair. It was always such a calming motion, and Jamie lay with his eyes closed, letting each touch rush over him.

He wondered how things would change now that Eden was done. He knew things would, he just didn’t know how much, and how much it would affect them in Heaven. Jamie wondered, in the silence between them, if moments like this would no longer exist, if they would be too busy for soft, tender moments. Jamie hoped not, for moments like this were precious to him, but surely things would change, and in a way that, regardless of how much he thought about it, could never be predicted.

**Author's Note:**

> an unusual au, but i quite like it. i plan on writing a second part, set in modern times to include some of the other character we know and love, but that may be a while so...


End file.
